


You bring me to my knees

by UpInOrbit



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, And a bit of humor, But we love her, F/F, Fluff, OT12 - Freeform, Yeojin is a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21523087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpInOrbit/pseuds/UpInOrbit
Summary: Club rivalry intensifies! Jungeun on the floor!Jiwoo mops the floor with Jungeun after the latter was on her way to apologize, sources say. Just how much is there going behind scenes that we don’t know about!?When Jungeun went to talk to Jiwoo, she never expected to fall herself on the ground, and much less to find herself on the front page of the university's newspaper, but that's exactly what happened. Next thing she knew, all eyes were on her and the rivalry Jungeun didn't know existed and her chances of finally talking to Jiwoo decreased with everyone watching their every move!
Relationships: Kim Jiwoo | Chuu/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip
Comments: 12
Kudos: 98





	You bring me to my knees

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nonamebut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonamebut/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAINA!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure you must have been expecting this but, surpriiiise *jazz hands*  
> I promised you a fluffy Loona fic and here it is, ready for your birthday. I really hope you have an amazing day because that's what you deserve and I hope this can somehow contribute to it, hopefully? We all know fluff is not really my thing but I've tried my best with this one so I hope it satisfies your expectations!! I wish I could give you a hug but sadly I can't so take this, and all my love! Really, I hope you have an amazing birthday and i love you so much <333333  
> For a writer I suck at these things so I'll just leave it here but just know that I adore you with all my heart <33

“Jungeun, come on, you have to do it!”

Jungeun looked up at Yoohyeon as she picked up her books, sighing. They had been at it for the past few days, and she knew she really had to, it was her job, after all, but… 

“Can't _you_ do it? Please?” She begged. Yoohyeon arched an eyebrow, lips curving into an amused smile. 

“No, I can't. You are our intrepid leader, it has to be you. Plus, you can't keep hiding from her!”

Jungeun groaned. “Maybe, but nothing says I can't try.”

Jungeun finished picking up her books and headed for the door, Yoohyeon hot on her heels. 

“I do. You're being a coward, Jungeun. Stop being a chicken, go talk to the poor girl! You even have the perfect excuse!”

“Yes but—” 

“No buts! Look, she's right there,” Yoohyeon had caught up with her and pointed at a brunette girl who was walking right beside a cluster of trees, apparently lost in thought. “Now, you either go talk to her and ask her, or I won't bring you any more brownies.”

Jungeun turned around so fast she almost got whiplash. She gasped, bringing a hand to her chest. “You wouldn’t.”

Yoohyeon raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. “I sure would, and you know it,” her eyes turned softer. “Go talk to her, Jungeun, she's just another girl. You can do this, I believe in you.” Jungeun nodded weakly, earning herself a bright smile from Yoohyeon. “Great! Now, go!” She pushed her in the girl's general direction. “I'll be right here!”

Jungeun sighed but she knew Yoohyeon would not accept her retreat and those brownies were too damn good for her to give up on them. She needed her chocolate to keep going. Counting down from ten, she jogged to reach the girl. The girl had her back to Hungeun and she walked with a little spring to her step, completely lost in her own world, or maybe in the music she was listening to on her earphones. 

The smile on Jungeun's face was soft but genuine as she reached for her arm. 

“Jiwoo, I-”

Before she could react, there was an iron vice-like on her upper arm. Then, there was a flash of white and suddenly, her back was leaning against something hard, the air having been sucked out of her lungs. Where she had previously being staring at the girl’s back, there was only bright splashes of blue and green and for a moment she felt disoriented, the world spinning like crazy until everything came back to focus. Some corner of her brain belatedly realized she was staring at the sky, just as white hot pain cursed through her body.

Above her, someone gasped, an alarmed voice reaching her from afar.

“Oh my…! Sooyoung, help me! God, I’m so sorry, how are you feeling!?” Jungeun blinked, a blurred face slowly coming into focus, worriedly looking down at her. She tried to say something, opening her mouth to reply, but only a pained groan came out. “Sooyoung! Goddammit,” the girl grunted.

Without waiting for her friend to arrive, Jiwoo leaned forward, wrapping her hands around Jungeun’s arms, and helped her sit up. She stared wide-eyed at Jungeun, anxiously scanning her face for any signs of discomfort or pain. 

“I’m really, really sorry, I got scared when you touched me, I’m really sorry,” apologies kept falling from her lips and Jungeun found herself staring at Jiwoo, a little dizzy, very much in awe. “How’s your head?”

It took Jungeun a couple of tries to understand Jiwoo’s words. 

“My head?” Pushing Jiwoo away from her thoughts and fighting the spinning of the world, Jungeun focused on her body, and groaned. “My head,” Jungeun raised one hand and rubbed the back of her head, that was sending pulses of throbbing pain along her nerves. “I’m okay,” she croaked, trying to ease the frown in Jiwoo’s face, rather unsuccessfully. “It hurts but I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?”

Jungeun smiled slightly, trying to keep the pain from showing and nodded. It wasn’t the best of her ideas, prompting the world, that had slowly come to a stop, to start spinning wildly once again.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” she lied through her teeth.

Somehow, she appeared to have convinced Jiwoo, who slowly uncurled her hands from Jungeun’s arms, and let them fall down. 

“I’m glad you’re fine, then. I’m Jiwoo, by the way,” she said with a shy smile.

“I know,” Jungeun blurted out, causing Jiwoo to stare at her with her eyes as wide as faucets. “I mean— I— I have seen you around, I guess?” It was more a question than a statement, and Jungeun cringed inwardly at how it had come out, but thankfully, Jiwoo didn’t press the matter, instead staring at Jungeun, expectantly. “Oh! I’m Jungeun, nice to meet you.”

Jiwoo smiled brightly, and with a twinge of embarrassment, pushing her auburn hair out of the way. “I wished it had been under better circumstances.”

“Maybe the next time,” Jungeun said softly, earning herself an enthusiastic nod from Jiwoo.

“I’m really sorry, Jungeun,” Jungeun opened her mouth to reply, but before she could do so, Jiwoo stood up, remorse clouding her features. “I need to go now, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Of course, don’t worry about me, seriously,” Jungeun rushed to reassure her.

Jiwoo smiled and she turned away, running towards a dark haired girl that was headed in their direction.

“What the hell, Jiwoo? What happened?” The girl asked, looking at Jungeun with worry.

“I was too distracted and when she touched me, it was instinctive, Sooyoung,” she explained, her voice growing lower as both of them walked away.

Jungeun sat there, looking at them as she tried to muster the strength needed to finally get up. She finally did so, carefully, as if she were old, and not a young woman in her twenties. It took her more effort than she wanted to admit, her body almost screaming in agony at the movement, but she managed to stand on somewhat-steady legs.

“Are you okay?” A low voice cheerfully asked from Jungeun’s right. She looked in the voice’s direction.

“Yes, Yeojin, thank you,” Yeojin nodded happily, her camera hanging from her neck. Something about the image made Jungeun scowl, suspicious. 

“Your friend is there, if you want to go with her,” Yeojin added, pointing to the place in which Jungeun had last seen Yoohyeon. Following her finger, Jungeun located Yoohyeon where she had left her. She turned back to Yeojin.

“Thank you,” she said, slowly. “Why are you being so helping today?”

Yeojin shrugged, her eyes shining with mirth, and Jungeun’s suspicions shot to the sky. “Can’t a girl be a good friend for no reason?”

“It would be a first coming from you,” Jungeun mumbled to herself.

Shaking her head, Jungeun started walking towards Joohyeon, grimacing with every step she took. 

“You better get me some of those brownies,” she grunted, as she let herself fall to the ground beside Yoohyeon. The latter whipped her head to look at Jungeun, her brows shooting up.

“You did it!?” She shrieked. Jungeun shushed her, embarrassed. “You did it?” Yoohyeon repeated, lower, pushing her bangs away from her face to better see Jungeun.

“Kinda. I talked to her, but I… I didn’t get to ask her anything.”

“Why not?” Jungeun braced herself.

“She… Threw me to the ground,” Jungeun closed her eyes with a grimace.

“She did _what_?” Yoohyeon’s voice was filled with surprise.

“She threw me to the ground,” she repeated, through gritted teeth, embarrassment colouring her cheeks.

“What? How? Why??”

Jungeun shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, albeit unsuccessfully. “I don’t know. I think she was too immersed in her music and I scared her and she… Reacted, I guess.”

“And you didn’t ask her,” Yoohyeon continued for her. Jungeun shot her the nastiest look she could muster.

“Of course I didn’t ask her. I couldn’t even remember my name when she asked and by the time I did remember what I had to do, she was gone, you can’t blame me for that!”

“As a matter of fact, I can,” Yooheon replied, and Jungeun huffed, half in annoyance, half in pain. “But at least she knows your name, and being thrown to the ground seems a big enough punishment so… I’ll bring you consolation brownies,” she said with a smile, as Jungeun laid on the ground, with her head tiled towards the Sun.

“Thank’s Yooheon, I appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me, you need to regain your strength for the next time you try,” Yooheon’s cheerful tone made Jungeun purse her lips in distaste, and she pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

“Is there any way you’re taking a no for an answer?”

“Do you really need an answer to that question?” Jungeun sighed in defeat, and Yoohyeon laughed. “Embarrassed or not, we still need to ask her about it, so you might as well shoot your shot.”

“I just hope no one saw that, it was so embarrassing Yoohyeon,” Jungeun whimpered, the memory itself enough to make her cringe. Yoohyeon patted her head in sympathy.

“There aren’t those many people around, Jungeun so don’t worry, I’m sure no one even saw what happened.”

Shielding her face, Jungeun nodded, and got prepared to nod off for a bit. Yoohyeon was most certainly right, after all. It was highly unlikely anyone had seen her and one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.

***

“Haseul! Open the door!!” Jungeun banged insistently on the wood, tapping her foot on the floor at the same time.

The knuckles on her left hand were white, skin pulled tight over her bones, as she held the newspaper in a death grip. Her eyes avoided making contact with it, but she didn’t need to for her to know what she would find there. 

It was an unimportant newspaper, one barely anyone cared to read, truth be told, but in those moments, Jungeun hated it with every fibre of her being, with an unparalleled passion. It was, after all, the reason she had run all the way up to Haseul’s house from uni, not even bothering to take a breath.

Finally, the door moved and Jungeun got ready to launch her speech, but the person waiting for her on the other side made her pause briefly.

“Jinsoul? What are you doing here?” She replied, puzzled at her best friend answering the door.

“Haseul was going to help me with something, why are you here?” Jinsoul moved aside to let Jungeun in and closed the door behind her.

Instead of replying, Jungeun waved the newspaper in front of Jinsoul’s face. Jinsoul’s eyes scanned over the page before returning to Jungeun’s face and Jungeun could tell the moment it dawned on Jinsoul what she was seeing. The smile on her friend’s face was brief, but not that brief that Jungeun didn’t notice it, causing her to narrow her eyes.

“Don’t you dare laugh,” she threatened. Jinsoul lifted her hands in surrender, but there was an amused glint in her gaze. “I’m here to see if Haseul will talk to Vivi on my behalf.”

“She’s in her bedroom, on the phone with someone. Good luck!” She called after her, as Jungeun made her way to Haseul’s bedroom.

Jungeun hadn’t been friends with Haseul for as long as she had been with Jinsoul, but uni had brought them together and over the last couple years she had been to Haseul’s house on a handful of occasions. Its layout was fairly simple, so she didn’t have much trouble locating the bedroom and, in it, Haseul.

Like Jinsoul had said, Haseul was on the phone with someone. She looked surprised when she saw Jungeun walk in, completely unannounced, but Haseul, bless her heart, didn’t seem angry or displeased, just motioned for Jungeun to wait, so Jungeun sat herself on the bed, patiently.

“Well then, if you can’t make it to Thursday’s class then maybe we can reschedule to Wednesday?” Haseul asked, slowly pacing around the room and nibbling on her bottom lip. Jungeun recognized that tone, the one she used when she spoke to those students she tutored, and wondered to whom she was speaking then. “You can’t either? I understand you’re busy, we all are but this is very important, Yeojin,” Jungeun sat up, “you can’t keep missi—”

Faster than lightning, Jungeun threw herself at Haseul, ripping the phone out of her hands. Then, she jumped off the bed, bringing the phone to her ear.

"Yeojin! You asshole! You better run and hide because I will find you and I will kill you," she hissed at the phone.

She didn't have time to say anything else because Haseul reclaimed her phone and pushed her against the wall, giving her a nasty look as she did so. Jungeun did hear Yeojin's cackle, though, and it just made her want to throttle the younger even more. Haseul hang up not long after that and turned to Jungeun, furious.

"What the hell, Jungeun!? You can't threaten Yeojin, she's a kid!"

"She's the devil, Haseul! And she's after me!"

"She's not after you, don't be silly," Haseul rolled her eyes.

Jungeun shook the paper in front of her friend's eyes, almost hitting her face in the process.

"And what's this, huh?"

"That's obviously Chuu throwing you to the ground like a puppet," Haseul deadpanned.

"And Yeojin spread it!"

"Well, to be fair, she's in charge of the newspaper and it makes for some very funny news," Jungeun stared at her in disbelief, her expression so shocked it threw Haseul into a fit of laughter. “Don’t look at me like that, you know it’s true!”

“I’m friends with a bunch of snakes, I swear,” Jungeun grumbled, sitting on the bed once again. “Even Jinsoul laughed!”

“It’s really funny, Jungeun, I’m sorry,” came a voice from the door, and Jungeun lifted her eyes to find Jinsoul leaning against the frame, a smile playing at her lips.

Jungeun stared sadly and with a bit of anger at the newspaper. Yeojin had managed to capture the moment in which Jiwoo had thrown her to the ground, and Jiwoo was half crouched, Jungeun’s arm over her shoulder, while Jungeun herself was practically flying, her face and shock perfectly visible, her hair a crazy halo around her head.

The headline was what topped it off, though. Written in big, bold letters, across the top of the page was: _Club rivalry!?_ Below that, in a smaller font, one could read: _Sweet choir club leader Kim Jiwoo threw the stern council president Kim Jungeun to the ground. Is this the start of a new rivalry!?_

Somehow, the word had spread and by noon the whole campus had read the article and seen the pic, with the subsequent backlash. Jungeun had left her class only to find her phone blowing up with notifications and even more surprised looks from the students around her. It didn’t matter no one ever read that paper, that day every soul seemed to have purchased a copy, to Jungeun’s chagrin.

“Can’t you tell Vivi to take it down?” Jungeun cried out, letting herself fall back on top of Haseul’s bed. 

“How do you want her to do that? The newspaper’s already out, Jungeun!”

“I don’t know. Maybe she can make sure they never publish anything like this ever again!” Jungeun suddenly sat up on the bed, propped on her elbows. “Better yet, maybe she can fire Yeojin! She’s a hazard, I’m sure you’d be able to convince her. She’s practically your girlfriend, after all, you can persuade her to do that,” she continued, ignoring the noise Haseul made when, flustered, she choke on her own spit.

“First of all, Vivi’s not my girlfriend! Second of all, why would she fire Yeojin?”

“Haseul, please, everyone knows it’s just a matter of time before you start dating. There’s even a betting pool on who will ask who first and how long it will take for that to happen,” Jinsoul agreed quietly from the door and Haseul shrieked at the news of the pool, but Jungeun carried on speaking like they hadn’t said a word. “Yeojin is one fifty-five of pure evil and she must be defeated! But I can’t do it myself because that would probably be considered abusing my status as the student council president,” she pouted, her eyes darting from Haseul, who had turned the colour of a tomato, to Jinsoul, who stood there with a smile.

“That’s because you would be abusing your status as student council president,” Jinsoul replied, her smile growing when she saw the dirty look Jungeun threw her.

“Who’s side are you on!?” Jungeun scowled, half mad at her best friend.

Jinsoul tipped her head back and let out a loud, delighted laugh.

“Chaos, of course,” she said, eyes shining mischievously. 

“You should be on my side, you traitor,” Jungeun groaned. “Haseul, will you help me, please? Pretty please?” She pressed, batting her eyelashes in an effort to convince her. Haseul merely let out a tired sigh.

“Jungeun, as much as I’d like to help you, Vivi will not agree to that. I’ll try,” she rushed to say, raising her hands to placate her friend, “but I can’t promise you anything. Either way, I’m sure this will all be forgotten by tomorrow and Yeojin will have found someone new to torment.”

“Do you promise?” She asked, eyeing both of them suspiciously. Haseul and Jinsoul shared a look.

“I’m sure Yeojin won’t have any trouble with finding someone new to torment,” Jinsoul said, nodding to herself. Haseul nodded too a heartbeat later.

“Wait that’s not—”

“Now can we please go back to my problem?” Jinsoul turned to Haseul, ignoring Jungeun as she sat there, dumbfounded. 

“Yes, of course,” satisfied, Jinsoul turned around and left the room, and Haseul followed her, stopping once she reached the threshold. “Aren’t you coming?” Jungeun fell on top of the bed again and let out a grunt. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Jungeun, but you won’t achieve much by groveling in your misery on my bed and doing nothing else.”

“No one says I can’t try.”

“Jungeun…”

She sighed at Haseul’s warning tone.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” she replied.

She heard the faint echo of Haseul’s footsteps as she exited the room and let out another sigh. Rubbing her face, she resigned herself. She just hoped her friends were right.

***

As it turned, Jungeun’s friends weren’t exactly right. For a lack of a better description, they were as far from the truth as Jungeun from becoming a millionaire (which was a considerable distance, if she were to be honest).

The rumor mill hadn’t ceased to work and so the story had become even more unbelievable. From Jungeun attacking Chuu, the campus’ sweetheart, to Chuu harboring a long lasting resentment over unfairly losing the student council elections to Jungeun (which was frankly stupid because, as far as Jungeun knew, she had never even been on the council). 

It didn’t matter what, but desperate students surviving on caffeine and sheer will made for amazing gossips, and soon Jungeun couldn’t take a step without feeling the weight of a hundred eyes on her shoulders.

“Fucking end me,” she groaned as she sat on the table, burying her head between her arms.

Yoohyeon merely patted her head before going back to her soup.

“They’ll get tired of it eventually.”

Jungeun shook her head before replying, her voice muffled but still somewhat clear.

“Not if that little demon or her minion duo have anything to say about it.”

“Minion…? Hyejoo and Yerim?” Jungeun gave her a slight nod at her friend’s puzzled tone. “Why would they be after you?”

“Because they’re Yeojin’s friends from the newspaper and they’re following me everywhere with their cameras, I can feel it,” Yoohyeon let out a startled laugh and Jungeun lifted her head to glare at her. “I’m serious, Yoohyeon! Everywhere I look at, they’re there too, it’s maddening!”

“It’s their uni too, Jungeun. You can’t exactly ban them from walking around,” came a voice from above, seconds before Jinsoul sat beside Yoohyeon, smiling warmly at her.

“I don’t want to ban them from walking around I just don’t want them to be waving their cameras like they’re threatening me!”

“I think you’re being a little bit dramatic,” Jinsoul said, unwrapping her sandwich and some fries.

“And I think you’re not listening to me. I’ve seen them, Jinsoul. They’re planing something, it’s just a matter of time!”

Jinsoul rolled her eyes, and Jungeun pouted.

“Okey, let’s say I believe you. Why would they even do that?”

“They’re reporters and no one bought their newspaper until they got that pic, what do you think they want to do? Scandals sell better than anything else,” Jungeun grumbled.

“Then just don’t do anything worthy of the front page and you’ll be fine,” Jinsoul replied, as if it were that simple. Jungeun stole a fry in retaliation, and Jinsoul swatted her hand away with a frown.

“Besides, wasn’t Haseul going to speak to Vivi and try to get her to tell Yeojin off or something?”

“Okey, firstly, _I_ didn’t do anything the first time, I was actually the poor, innocent victim,” Jungeun ignored Jinsoul’s huff and Yoohyeon’s amused smile before continuing her speech. “Secondly, apparently Vivi won’t do such thing. As long as she gets to finally sell her newspapers and the club isn’t on the line, she doesn’t care what Yeojin does.”

“Well, it was worth the shot but I’m not surprised. Under all that pink and soft appearance, Vivi’s a tough one to crack,” Yoohyeon said with a shrug.

“Yeah, but Haseul would have probably had more luck if Vivi hadn’t just asked her out,” Jungeun mumbled, giving her friend, who was sitting on the other side of the cafeteria, the stink eye. Haseul seemed to feel Jungeun’s stare on her, for she turned around and threw her an apologetic smile, before returning her attention to Vivi. “She’s so weak for pretty girls.”

“Aren’t we all?” Yoohyeon then said, and Jinsoul hummed her agreement. Jungeun paused her stealing of fries for a second to ponder, and nodded.

“You’re right,” she then saw a familiar face in the far corner of the cafeteria and perked up. “Well, ladies, I’ve got to leave you now.”

“Why? What happened?” Jinsoul craned her neck to look at what Jungeun was looking.

“I still have unfinished business to do and probably an apology to give.”

“What? Why?” Jinsoul’s face then brightened with a sudden idea. “Chuu? But why?”

“Yeah, and I don’t know. I just feel like it’s appropriate,” she replied, not tearing her eyes away from the other girl.

“She’s the one that threw you to the floor!” Yoohyeon said, perplexed.

“I know!” Jungeun shouted over her shoulder as she left the table.

“She’s whipped, your honor,” she didn’t even bother to reply to Jinsoul’s comment and instead jogged towards the door.

She stepped into the hallway and looked around, having lost Jiwoo. Frowning, and worried that she might have to wait even more to talk to the girl, she sped up and turned the corner. She wasn’t going too fast, but she wasn’t really paying attention to her surroundings, too busy scanning the hallway to see if she could spot Jiwoo walking in the distance, and maybe that’s why she didn’t realize she wasn’t as alone as she had thought.

One moment she was jogging down the corridor, the next one she found herself rolling across it until her body hit the wall, her limbs caught between her body and the cold tiles of the floor.

Jungeun blinked, surprised, before her brain registered the position she was in and the dull ache in her arms and legs. Someone behind her moved.

“I’m so sorry! How can this be happening again!? God I’m really sorry!”

Letting out a groan, Jungeun rolled until she was facing the ceiling, and a familiar face came into focus. Jungeun sketched a pained smile as she took in the curtain of dark hair above her. It brushed against her nose and it tickled. 

Jungeun welcomed the distraction it offered from her own battered body.

“We should really stop meeting like this,” she managed to get out, and was rewarded with a slightly worried smile from Jiwoo.

“I’m really sorry Jungeun, I stopped to tie my shoelaces and didn’t think anyone would come from behind, I’m really sorry.”

Jungeun dismissed her apologies as she tried to sit straight, carefully rubbing her right arm, that had taken the worse of the fall.

“Please, it should be me the one apologizing, I should have been paying more attention, I’m really sorry.”

“Wait, let me help you,” Jiwoo rushed to say, placing her book bag on the floor next to her. Jungeun tried not to be startled by the sudden proximity, as Jiwoo got closer to help her sit up. “How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Do you want me to call someone for you?”

Jungeun shook her head, opening her mouth to reply when her attention was caught on something behind Jiwoo, and instead she let out a pained groan.

“Not again, God!”

Surprised, Jiwoo jumped before turning around to look at what had upset Jungeun so much. Her eyes widened for a split second and then her whole face darkened, having seen the brief flash of Yerim and Hyejoo before they bolted, camera firmly clutched between their fingers.

“Hey! Come back!” Jiwoo shouted at the two retreating girls. Like Jungeun expected, the only reply they got was the sound of the girl’s footsteps vanishing as they raced down the hall, away from them. “I am really sorry about this Jungeun, I feel so bad for this,” Jiwoo turned her eyes to Jungeun and started apologizing, but Jungeun refused to have any of that.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Jiwoo. It was an accident and no one’s fault, really. If anything, the one’s responsible for whatever mess comes next are Olivia and Choerry,” Jungeun grunted, her tone almost angry as she pronounced the girls nicknames, the ones they used when they wrote articles for their newspaper. “Seriously, don’t worry about it,” she insisted, her voice softening when she saw the way Jiwoo nibbled at her bottom lip, guilt still etched to her face. Impulsively, Jungeun took one of Jiwoo’s hands in hers, and squeezed. “I’m not mad at you, Jiwoo,” the girl scanned Jungeun’s face before allowing herself a small smile, and squeezing Jungeun’s hand back.

It was a brief smile, but Jungeun new she’d forever treasure the memory.

“Eh…” Jiwoo started to say, and Jungeun realized she had been staring at her, without saying a word. Immediately, she dropped Jiwoo’s hand, worried she had freaked the other girl out with her starstruck expression. “I’m really sorry, I still feel like I should make it up to you in some way but I’ve got an important meeting now and I’m running late,” Jiwoo’s words spilled from her lips almost like an avalanche and it took Jungeun a couple seconds to notice she was waiting for a reply.

“Oh, yes, of course, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine!” She rushed to say, with her most reassuring smile, but Jiwoo didn’t seem convinced.

“I don’t think I should leave you, that was a pretty nasty fall…” Jungeun frowned, ready to tell Jiwoo she was perfectly fine, but Jiwoo wasn’t paying attention to her, busy craning her neck looking for someone. She must have found them, for her face lit up, and she waved for them to come over. “Hyunjin, Heejin, can you please stay with Jungeun until I bring her friends? She fell to the floor because of me and Hyejoo and Yerim saw and I feel awful,” Jiwoo explained, completely ignoring Jungeun’s attempts to convince her none of that was necessary.

“Yes, of course, we’ll stay with her until then,” a deep voice said from above her, before both Hyunjin and Heejin kneeled beside Jungeun, each of them taking one side.

“Great, thanks!” Jiwoo replied, her eyes melting into little crescent moons as she smiled brightly. Jungeun watched, transfixed, unable to tear her eyes away. Jiwoo hurried towards the cafeteria but stopped just as she reached the corner, turning around to look at Jungeun. “And, Jungeun…?”

“Yes, Jiwoo?”

“I really like your hair, you look really pretty in that colour,” Jiwoo said, a blush creeping up her cheeks, before she disappeared from sight.

Blushing furiously, Jungeun stared at the vacant space Jiwoo had been standing in, and then buried her face in her hands, embarrassed, but unable to keep a smile from her face. When she had dyed her hair back to black, she hadn’t been expecting such a reaction, but she couldn’t say she was upset over it.

“Jiwoo, huh?” A teasing voice asked. Jungeun raised her head to look at Hyunjin, whose eyes shone with mirth, and she tried to glare at her, but she doubted it had the intended effect, not when she was still bright red from Jiwoo’s words.

“And what about it?” She huffed, trying to protect the last remains of her dignity.

“Oh, nothing,” Hyunjin replied, nonchalant, but the small, almost smug smile in her lips made Jungeun look at her in distrust. 

“It’s just not many people call her Jiwoo,” Heejin then said, attracting Jungeun’s attention. She exchanged a look with Hyunjin, the same gleam in their eyes. “She tends to prefer being called ‘Chuu’ by those she’s not too close to.”

Jungeun tried to keep the shock (and sudden burst of happiness), from her face, but judging by the twin smiles on Hyunjin and Heejin’s faces, she didn’t exactly succeed in her goal.

“She’ll most definitely say yes if you ask her out,” Hyunjin teased, and Jungeun groaned, wishing for the earth to swallow her whole. 

The other girls laughed and Heejin threw herself over Jungeun, hugging her tightly. Jungeun’s arms draped over Heejin almost immediately. She smiled.

“Do you have a game tonight?” Jungeun asked, suddenly becoming aware the girls were wearing their team’s uniform.

“Yeah, in two hours, why?” Replied Hyunjin

“Do you think—“ Jungeun never got to finish her question, for her friends chose that moment to appear.

“Jungeun! Chuu told us, are you alright?” Jinsoul asked, pushing her dark hair away from her face. Right behind her arrived Yoohyeon, who walked up to her and knelt by her side.

“Yes, I swear it was nothing, Jiwoo worried herself over nothing,” Jungeun said with an eye-roll, earning a dubious look from her friends. “Don’t worry about it, really.”

Yoohyeon and Jinsoul looked at each other and at Heejin and Hyunjin before nodding, apparently taking Jungeun’s word but they still shot forward to help her stand.

“Thank you for staying with me, though, and good luck!” Jungeun added, turning around to look at the other two girls.

“It was no problem at all,” Heejin said with a bright smile.

“I just hope Hyejoo and Yerim didn’t get to take a picture of what happened,” at Hyunjin’s words, Jungeun grimaced.

“Do you think if you win tonight it’ll be enough for them to ignore me?” Jungeun asked, even if she already suspected the answer. 

Hyunjin and Heejin exchanged a look.

“We’ve never sold those many newspapers,” Hyunjin said with a sheepish smile. “You’re on your own here.”

Jungeun closed her eyes and tipped her head backwards.

“Goddamnit.”

***

“It could have been worse,” Haseul said, but the way she raised her voice at the end of the sentence turned it into a question and Jungeun groaned.

“Shoot me now,” she replied, her voice muffled from where she was talking with her palms pressed against her face.

Word had spread like a wildfire and all the newspapers had soon been completely sold out.No wonder Vivi didn’t want to stop the trio from taking more shots like those: the newspaper had never been more popular than it was then. 

Jungeun and her friends had tried to get one for themselves, unsuccessfully, until Haseul had had enough and had asked Vivi for a pic of the front page. It was Haseul’s phone Jinsoul, Yoohyeon and Haseul were huddled around, the three of them looking down at the screen.

Jungeun extended her arm, silently asking for the phone. Haseul doubted for a moment, and then Jungeun felt the cool surface of the phone and wrapped her fingers around it. 

**Club rivalry intensifies! Jungeun on the floor!**

“They didn’t hold back with this one, huh?” Jungeun asked, reluctant to continue reading.

“There’s more,” Jinsoul said and jungeun grimaced, because of course, _of course_ there was more.

_Jiwoo mops the floor with Jungeun after the latter was on her way to apologize, sources say. Just how much is there going behind scenes that we don’t know about!?_

Jungeun pinched the bridge of her nose. There, taking up half the cover, there were not one, but two pictures of her and Jiwoo. They were taken from behind, and they were a bit blurry, but not enough that the reader wouldn’t understand what was happening. 

The first one showed Jungeun flying over Jiwoo, who was crouched on the floor. From the angle the photo had been taken it wasn’t obvious Jiwoo was tying her shoelaces, and instead it appeared like Jiwoo had tried to throw Jungeun to the floor, and had succeeded in doing so. Anyone who knew Jiwoo would know that was bullshit, but that didn’t make for a good front page, did it?

The second picture was of Jungeun on the floor, the exact moment in which she had crashed against the wall, and her face was contorted in pain. Jiwoo wasn’t in the frame, or she had been cropped out of the picture but, either way, the focus was on Jungeun and, as much as she hated to admit it, paired with the headline, it worked pretty well for what Yeojin was going for.

It was frustrating.

“When did this newspaper turn into _this_?” Jungeun asked aloud. She’d rip the newspaper apart if she had a physical copy but as the only thing she had was Haseul’s phone, she gave it back to her friend before she tossed it out the window.

“It could have been worse. At least you’re not the bad one this time,” Yoohyeon then said. Jungeun sighed.

“That doesn’t really make me feel any better.”

“Vivi says she’s sorry,” Haseul added, and Jungeun shot her an unimpressed look. Haseul herself didn’t seem too happy about it. “I tried to talk her into convincing Yeojin to drop it, but she said she has to look after the newspaper. She did promise she’d step in if it gets too much,” Jungeun nodded weakly in response.

Closing her eyes, she lowered herself to sit on the floor, running her fingers through her hair.

The coldness of the tiles seeped into her body through her clothes and she turned her face to rest her cheek against them. She wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of hiding in a bathroom like she was twelve again, but at least there weren’t any unwanted looks thrown in her direction and she could breathe properly.

It wasn’t like anyone had said anything mean to her, just that she didn’t like the spotlight that came with being the newspaper’s front page for something like that. And, honestly? She had started to see Yeojin in every corner, camera ready to catch her doing something embarrassing. Most of the times it was her mind playing tricks on her, but the demonic trio had been lucky two times too many and she didn’t want to be caught unaware. 

Hence, the bathroom meeting.

“What should I do?” She asked her friends, imploring. The other three exchanged a look between them.

“I don’t think there’s much you can do, other than go on with your life normally,” Yoohyeon suggested.

“I mean, nothing has really happened? You’ve just been really unlucky lately,” Jinsoul added, while Haseul nodded in support. “And Yeojin only wants whatever there is between you and Chuu, even if she has to make it up herself, but as long as you avoid Chuu, it should be alright, I think.”

“You don’t have to avoid her forever, just for the time being,” Haseul rushed to add as she noticed Jungeun’s crestfallen’s expression. “Yeojin gets bored easily, if she doesn’t have anything of you, she’ll move onto the next thing.”

Jungeun groaned and banged her head softly against the wall. Haseul and Jinsoul frowned, confused, while Yoohyeon looked at Jungeun in sympathy. 

“That’s not going to be exactly possible,” she said. “We haven’t said anything yet because it’s still very early, but the reason Jungeun went to talk to Chuu the first time was because there’s going to be some kind of show, I guess? A fundraising event, with all the different clubs, and since the choir club is quite popular, we wanted to have them on board,” Haseul and Jinsoul both let out soft ‘aaah’ at that, and Yoohyeon nodded, “so, yeah, Jungeun is going to have and work very closely with Chuu, whether she likes it or not.”

“I hate this so much,” Jungeun whimpered. “Why did it have to be me, ugh, it’s so unfair!”

“What are you going to do, then?” Haseul asked. Jungeun scrunched her nose.

“I still have to talk to Jiwoo, I couldn’t do it any of the times I tried. Do you think it will be difficult to find her?”

Jinsoul opened her mouth to reply but just then the door’s handle trembled. The four of them whipped their heads towards it, surprised, and then the door moved, almost hitting Jungeun, who was sat behind it, in the process.

Jungeun raised her arms to protect herself, more concerned about the door approaching her face than about the newcomer, but that changed when she heard Haseul say, “I don’t think it will be too difficult to find her.”

Surprised, Jungeun looked up, only to find a familiar face staring at her. Jiwoo’s eyes widened when she recognized her, and a faint blush crept up her cheeks, darkening when she felt the other girls focused on her.

“I am so very sorry, I didn’t know you were here! I’ll leave now,” she stammered, before rushing out of the bathroom, the door almost hitting her with how fast she pulled it to close it.

“Wait!” Jungeun cried out, as she hurried to stand up. Cursing herself for having decided to sit down, she threw herself at the door. “I’ll find you later,” she shouted over her shoulder at her friends, not even sparing them a glance as she ran after Jiwoo. “Jiwoo, wait!”

But Jiwoo didn’t wait. Instead, she appeared to be walking away faster, almost running and so, Jungeun broke into a sprint to catch up to her. Thankfully, it was late enough in the evening that most other students were away, and there were no witnesses, or cameras, to see her chasing Jiwoo down the halls.

“I swear to God, Jiwoo! Wait!” Jungeun finally caught up to the other girl, her hand closing around Jiwoo’s wrist and locking her in place. “I just wanted to talk to you!” She continued, slightly out of breath. Maybe it was time to take up Haseul on that offer to hit the gym together, she mused to herself. Shaking her head, Jungeun straightened her shoulders, “do you not want to talk to me? I can leave, if you’d prefer that,” Jungeun added, carefully scanning Jiwoo’s face.

Jiwoo turned her head to look at the ceiling and closed her eyes. Her fingers were closed around the strap of her bag, her knuckles turning white.

"No, you don't have to leave," she said, but her lips were tightly pressed together, lines of worry around her mouth.

"Did I do anything wrong, Jiwoo? Because if I did I'm so very sorry, I didn't mean to, I swear," Jungeun rushed to say, and Jiwoo's head snapped back to look at Jungeun.

"What? No, of course not! You did nothing wrong! It was me who has to apologize again, it was my fault they took that pic, why would you have to apologize?"

Jungeun frowned.

"You have nothing to apologize for! It was your reputation on the line with that last picture. Why would I want an apology for that? In fact, it was me the one that caused the incident both times, I should be apologizing."

Jiwoo smiled slightly. It wasn't much, but the sight of that smile made Jungeun feel much better.

"Let's just say we're even then. I think we might not finish at all if we continue arguing who has to apologize."

Jumping at the opportunity, Jungeun nodded, a bit too enthusiastically, but Jiwoo seemed amused by Jungeun's reaction, her smile broadening a little.

"Well, it's nice to know that," Jungeun nodded and smiled in reply. "I won't bother you anymore then," Jiwoo said after the silence between them had extended for a couple of seconds, with the both of them just looking at each other.

It took Jungeun a little more than it should have to reach to those words, mesmerized by the way Jiwoo's eyes sparkled when she smiled. As Jiwoo turned around to leave, Jungeun's hand shot forward, and she wrapped her fingers around the other girl's wrist.

"Wait, don't go!"

Surprised, Jiwoo bounced lightly, and stopped. Her eyes got caught up on the hand Jungeun had around her wrist before meeting her eyes, and Jungeun let her go like it was burning her. She stepped away and put both hands behind her back, biting the inside of her cheek.

“I— I have something I've been meaning to ask you for a while, it's why I went up to you that first time, but I never got the chance to actually say it," she started, and Jiwoo hummed, her eyes never leaving Jungeun's face. Suddenly, it seemed like she was standing closer than she had been before, even if Jungeun couldn't remember either of them moving."There's going to be a fundraising event in a couple of months and we were wondering if you guys would be willing to help us with that? Maybe the dance club too?"

Taking a step back, Jiwoo blinked, surprised. For a brief second, Jungeun thought she saw her face fall down, like she was disappointed by Jungeun's words, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, leaving only a faint trace of surprise in its wake.

"The clubs? Oh. Ah, yeah, I guess? I'd have to talk to Sooyoung, of course, but I guess we can come up with something for it," Jiwoo's words were spoken fast and in a low tone, more to herself than to others, and Jungeun had trouble following her. As she was about to ask Jiwoo to slow down, a determined look took over the latter’s face, so different from her confused ramble from before that it gave Jungeun whiplash. "You have my email, right? Send me the details and we can discuss it all together. See you around, Jungeun."

Without waiting for a reply, Jiwoo turned around and walked away, leaving Jungeun standing in the middle of the halfway, mouth half-open to start talking. She stared at Jiwoo's rapidly retreating form, not quite sure of what had just happened, before grabbing her phone to call Jinsoul.

Her fingers hovered over the call button before she buried the phone back into her pocket.

"Fuck it," she muttered, breaking into a light sprint. "Jiwoo! Wait!"

At first the other girl didn't hear her, or maybe pretended like she hadn't, but, eventually, as Jungeun's cries got louder, she turned around to wait for her. Jungeun's pace slowed down until she came to a stop, a good three meters between them. 

Panting slightly, she pushed her hair away from her face and breathed in deeply, summoning her courage to talk to Jiwoo.

"I lied before," Jiwoo furrowed her brows and Jungeun grimaced, scrambling to explain herself. "Well, not really 'lied', because I did have to ask you about the club thing, but that wasn't the only reason I approached you that day, not the only thing I wanted to ask you.”

“Okay…?” Jiwoo’s expression was guarded and she was slightly frowning as she scanned Jungeun’s face.

“What I really wanted to ask you but couldn’t at first, my friend Yoohyeon had to push me to do it but I _couldn’t_ and it was so frustrating!” Jungeun spoke so fast even she had trouble following her own train of thought, and she tried to slow down as she saw Jiwoo’s puzzled expression. “God, I’m so bad at this, I’m so sorry, Jiwoo,” she added. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she tried again. “I suck at this but you’re so pretty and smart and nice and so great, and I’ve wanted to ask you out for a while now so, would you like to go out with me? Sometime? It’s fine if you don’t want to. We can ignore any of this happened and continue like we were before. In fact that’s what I’m going to do. Have a good day, Jiwoo,” she finished her rambling before turning around and scurrying away, her whole face on fire. 

Jungeun wished for the earth to swallow her whole, so she wouldn’t have to face the embarrassment of having to face Jiwoo any other day or, worse, remember the bewildered expression she had as she had asked her out. The universe didn’t seem inclined to give her that concession, though, for Jiwoo was screaming at her to stop. 

Jungeun just walked away faster, glad there was no one around at that time of the day.

“Jungeun, wait! Don’t leave!” Jiwoo screamed and while Jungeun would have given her the world, she didn’t feel capable of facing her then, so she did her best to block her pleas. “Jungeun! Listen to me, you coward!”

“I’m sorry, Jiwoo, but I’m in a hurry!” Jungeun screamed over her shoulder, preparing herself to break into a sprint.

“I’d say yes, Jungeun! If you asked me, I’d say yes!”

Jiwoo’s words broke to the embarrassment-induced haze in Jungeun’s mind, bringing her to a sudden stop. Shocked and unable to believe her own ears, she froze in the middle of the hallway, trying to process Jiwoo’s statement. 

Jungeun was turning around to look at Jiwoo when something, a warm body, collided against her, throwing her off balance. Not expecting it, Jungeun tumbled to the ground, dragging the other down with her.

“Jungeun! I’m so sorry, I can’t believe this happened again! Are you okay?” 

Opening her eyes, Jungeun found Jiwoo’s anxious face hovering above her’s. They were so close Jungeun thought she could have been able to count Jiwoo’s eyelashes and she smiled. She didn’t even care she was, yet again, laying on the floor, not when she had the prettiest girl in the world, who had just agreed to going out with her, on the floor with her too.

“Were you being serious?” She asked, and Jiwoo stopped inspecting Jungeun in search for any injuries to focus on her face. A slight blush tinted her cheeks when she realized what Jungeun meant and she tried to push away, but Jungeun was quicker, wrapping her hands around her wrists to keep her locked in place. “When you said you’d go out with me, were you being serious?”

“Why don’t you try and see if I was?” Jiwoo whispered into the space between them.

“Kim Jiwoo, will you go out with me on a date?” Jungeun asked in the same tone, unable to keep her voice from shaking slightly. Shock or nerves, she didn’t know, but frankly, she didn’t care either.

“Couldn’t you have waited until we were off the floor!?” Jiwoo asked, half in disbelieve, half in amusement.

Jungeun shook her head, a smile slowly taking over her face.

“Nope. Couldn’t wait at all, too excited to do that,” she replied, her smile becoming wider, brighter, as Jiwoo blushed harder than she did before, and hid her face in the crook of Jungeun’s neck. Her breath tickled and Jungeun laughed, delighted. “I still haven’t heard my answer, Kim Jiwoo.”

Jiwoo raised her head to glare at Jungeun. The effect was diminished by the bright redness of her cheeks. She looked so cute Jungeun wanted to kiss her and so she did, a brief brush of her lips, barely a peck, against Jiwoo’s cheeks, one that served to deepen the girl’s blush.

“You’ve gotten awfully cocky for someone who ran away after confessing,” Jungeun took the jab with a bright smile, waiting patiently for her answer. “Of course I’ll go out with you, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Jiwoo finally said, burying her face in Jungeun’s neck once again.

Grinning broadly, Jungeun wrapped her arms around Jiwoo’s body, bringing her closer still and basked in her presence, feeling happier than she had in weeks.

***

**Breaking news! Kim Jiwoo and Kim Jungeun, dating!?**

_It seems like the rivalry between our two favorite leaders has been settled down, or maybe it wasn’t even there to begin with! Our beloved student council president, Kim Jungeun, true to herself, ended up in the floor once again, courtesy of Kim Jiwoo but, this time, she seems happy to be there._

_Whatever might have been going on behind the scenes must have been solved, as apparently they are now happily dating and here you can see, in an exclusive picture, the moment in which Jungeun confessed! Don’t they seem happy?_

_Their relationship might have had a rocky start but we, your faithful reporters, sure hope it will be lasting and full of love!_

_Don’t forget you read it here first!_

_(Photo credits to Jung Jinsol.)_

**Author's Note:**

> And this is it for today! I really hope you've enjoyed and that you've had fun reading it ^^ Thank you Marta for cheering me on with this, it was really needed at times jsjsjsjs  
> Happy birthday, Raina, I love you so much, I really hope you've liked this :')  
> Se you all hopefully soon! Kudos and comments warm my heart <3
> 
> [tw](https://twitter.com/starryjinsouls) || [cc](https://curiouscat.me/Val_99)
> 
> \- Val


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